


An Acceptable First Attempt, All Things Considered

by Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains



Series: Of Tears and Ash [16]
Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Genre: Banter, Discussion, Gen, Ridiculous dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25683634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains/pseuds/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains
Summary: Orestes brings back up a certain topic in a conversation with Iphicles.
Series: Of Tears and Ash [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1050806
Kudos: 8





	An Acceptable First Attempt, All Things Considered

Iphicles chewed at the last bits of his bread, themselves the last bits of the evening meal, with a relaxed smile fixed upon his face.It had been a fairly pleasant day, all things considered, and he found that his mind was at ease.The road had not been particularly rough, and he had engaged in a rather exchange of stories with one of the merchants in the company, who was quite curious to hear of Iphicles tales from his time along the southern coast, and had a few intriguing tales of his own to share as well.All in all, it had been an enjoyable journey.Now, as Iphicles had realized was their habit, the merchants had gathered together to speak of trade and business for a time, before moving on to lighter topics. 

The guards, for their part, Iphicles included, had originally moved off a bit to sit within the bed of one of the wagons less-filled with merchandise (given that most of its contents had been sold already) and finish their respective meals in peace, before initiating some discourse of their own.What that would prove to be, Iphicles was as of yet unsure, but he did not doubt that it whatever form it took, it would be an intriguing affair.Conversing with Orestes generally was, and though Kadmos never contributed vast amounts to the conversation, when he did give his input, it tended to enrich the overall quality of the discussion, either through raising a point overlooked by the other two men, or by steering them in the direction of an even more fulfilling topic to mull over. 

The discourse which the three of them engaged in was rarely dull, whether it involved sharing stories (the most common shape it took), or musing over their respective thoughts on a certain subject, debating their respective viewpoints.Though some individuals might have been of the opinion that mercenaries were a boring, stupid sort of folk, with little thoughts of their own aside from fighting, Iphicles felt that this was a serious undervaluing of his craft.Many of those in his profession had seen and experienced enough in their careers to know a thing or two about a whole host of matters.

Iphicles glanced over to Kadmos as the other man climbed out of the wagon, hopping to the ground.He turned back toward Iphicles and Orestes.“I think I’m going to go on a walk.Around the perimeter of the camp.I’ll be back,” he announced.

Iphicles nodded to this.“Sounds like a fair plan,” Orestes opined.Kadmos gave a curt nod of his own and vanished off into the night.His walks about the camp were a semi-regular ritual of his.Orestes and Iphicles had both come to the conclusion that it was a method he used to get some time to himself, given that he preferred to conduct his surveys of their camps’ perimeters alone, and took his good time with them as well.They respected this desire, and gave him a fair degree of space.Given the constant activity of the caravan, it was difficult for one to get much time alone where one could gather one’s thoughts and the like.To deny a fellow warrior the opportunity to do so was not something either Orestes or Iphicles intended to do.

Orestes looked over to Iphicles as Kadmos took his leave.Iphicles met his friend’s gaze.“Say, my friend, is something the matter?”He inquired, tilting his head to the side.

Orestes leaned back, scratching the side of his head thoughtfully.“Nay, I cannot say truthfully that anything is wrong per se, good Iphicles,” he answered.“And yet, I find I am rather curious about something.”

“Oh really?”Iphicles asked, realizing his friend’s game almost instantly.“Would your curiosity happen to have something to do with the discussion we had yesterday during our search for a tavern at which to dine?”

“Well, now that you mention it,” Orestes began, “I can’t tell a lie.”

“Ah, it is so easy to see through you at times, my friend,” Iphicles opined with a chuckle.“So, care to share this curiosity of yours with me?”

Orestes chuckled along with Iphicles.“I suppose it wouldn’t be all that fair of me to bring it up and then leave you in the dark, would it?”

“I have to say, that would be somewhat ill-mannered of you, yes,” Iphicles concurred.

“Well then, I suppose I might as well come out and say it then,” Orestes mused.

“Sounds like a good course of action to me.”

“Alright then,” Orestes agreed.“I’m still rather interested to hear your thoughts on the manner in which we left Kadmos to guard the wagons alone.”He continued, growing more emphatic, while still keeping his voice at a moderate level.“Truly, truly, I tell you, thoughts of that affair have plagued my mind ever since!”

“You mean, in the single day that has passed since,” Iphicles observed.

“Indeed, indeed,” Orestes heartily assented, trying not to burst into laughter.

“Am I to take this as an indication that you want to continue our verbal sparring from yesterday then?”Iphicles queried with a playful gleam in his eye.

“Ah, well, truth be told, I think it best to save that for another time,” Orestes answered.“I fear that I’m a bit too tired to engage in such a rigorous activity at this hour in the evening.”

Iphicles shook his head with mock disappointment.“You and your feeble constitution my friend.I must say, it’s a shame.A real shame.”

“My chagrin in the matter is utterly boundless, do not doubt it,” Orestes disclosed.“It tints my complexion with such vast quantities of shame that I am forevermore blemished by its presence upon my once bright visage, now soured by its irreconcilable mark!”

“Sounds like a serious issue to me,” Iphicles commented.“Perhaps it is something which you should look into visiting a physician about in one of the larger cities through which we pass.”

“Ah, I fear that no healer, regardless of the skill which they possess in their craft, would have any luck in curing me of this fell ailment!It drains at my very soul, sucking the life from my blood and rendering my body an indolent shell, content to waste away its days in lackadaisical pursuits, devoid of any truth or meaning,” Orestes complained dramatically.

“Hmm, from that description, I’d say it’s no laughing matter.Have you ever been formally diagnosed with any sort of sickness, or is it the sort of affliction which defies diagnosis?”Iphicles inquired, playing along merrily.

“As much as it pains me to divulge the truth, I am haunted by the sort of disease which evades any attempts to explain or define it!It is as if I am possessed by some malevolent entity, which seeks to bring about by demise, and stymies any attempts to deter it from this end,” Orestes groused.

“So, it is a truly concerning situation then,” Iphicles said, nodding slowly, as if in caught up in some manner of deep thought.

“The depth of concern which my troubled mind holds for this rivals that of the abyssal plain of the sea, where Poseidon holds his kingdom and council,” Orestes revealed, clutching a hand to his chest to further his expression.

“That is an impressive amount of concern, I have to say,” Iphicles observed.“But if you hold such deep concern, surely you’ve looked into various cures for your illness, right?”

“Ah, that I have, that I have, my friend,” Orestes confirmed.“Alas, through all my search and study into a remedy for my plight, I have found only false hopes and balms time and time again, with but one exception.”

“Rather discouraging, I’m certain,” Iphicles asserted.

“It has indeed been a discouraging quest, one which has taxed my soul greatly, bringing me to the very precipice of despair on many occasions,” Orestes agreed.

“But you say that you have discovered a single real cure for your ailment?”Iphicles asked, a grin playing across his face.

“Ah, yes, I have, I have,” Orestes replied, laying his head in his hands and looking altogether miserable.Iphicles heard a giggle escape through his hands.“But it is all for not,” Orestes carried on with sorrow thick in his voice.“For it is a cure I cannot obtain on my own!”

Iphicles rolled his eyes, finding the urge to dissolve into a fit of laughter very difficult to resist.“And what would this cure happen to be?”

“I am so glad that you ask me such a question,” Orestes replied, raising his head back up, an abrupt look of yearning in his eyes.His mouth was twisting between a wide smile and a serious line, which made it look as though he was having a seizure or something of the sort.“The only cure for my disease, which will otherwise consume my very life force, is for a good friend of mine to tell me his thoughts on a matter which we left undiscussed!”

“And if this friend does not tell you his thoughts?”Iphicles queried.

“Then I shall surely die, a miserable, mournful death!”Orestes stated vehemently.

“I see,” Iphicles responded.“Any requests for your corpse?”

Orestes looked as though he was trying very hard to formulate a response, but his mirth got the best of him before he could do so.He began laughing warmly.Once he broke, Iphicles couldn’t keep it together either.Soon they were both laughing along equally.

“So,” Orestes said through his chortling, “Are you ever going to finish that conversation?”

“Well,” Iphicles replied through his giggles, “That really depends.But with a bit like that, I doubt it!”

“Guess I’ll just have to up my game then!”

“You do that,” Iphicles said, shaking his head in amusement.

**Author's Note:**

> This is another one of my HTLJ fics from 2018 (set in my "Of Tears and Ash" AU) that I never posted, but decided I might as well, considering the time I put into them. Once again, since I'm no longer really in the fandom, I'm backdating this to when I wrote it, so no one thinks I'm suddenly back into HTLJ.


End file.
